2. misc-audio
  3. 982520754

Coping in an Age of Uncertainty

there have been numerous threads here, i know, about sacd v. dvd-a, upsampling, oversampling, etc. a number of these threads have included discussions of which, if any, new digital format will replace what we now call “redbook” cd’s. i don’t wish to rehash these discussions. rather, i’d like to hear from others how they are coping with the “age of uncertainty” in the realm of digital audio. is it better to “roll the dice” and invest in sacd or dvd a? ignore the contenders for the new and get the best possible out of redbook cd’s? buy with upgradeability firmly in mind? follow another path? i don’t post this query out of mere curiosity. i really haven’t figured out what course i should follow. i’d appreciate your giving me a hand. -kelly
cornfedboy

Showing 1 response by katfink

katfink
2 posts
 
I may have a cheap solution for some of you. I posted about this in the cpu forum earlier. It's a small program that can upsample ripped cd's to 24/96 pcm dvd video with a claim of resolution enhancement. Then you burn it as a dvd video, but play it back as audio only in a standard dvd player. When I first tried it, I thought it would be just another bogus program with exaggerated claims. But much to my suprise, it actually seems to work. I took several of the disks to my brothers place for a shootout. He's got a MA6900 with MGIIIa's and Sony's top DVD video/SACD player (999ES I think). Some of the disks were the same titles, ie my dvd disk upsampled with Diana Krall against his SACD of her. Sometimes the dvd's would sound slightly warmer or the sacd's would have better bass or treble extension, or visa versa, but the differences were minute. The shootout was basically a tie, which stunned all of us. Sometimes the upsampled dvd's are much better than the original cd's, other times by a smaller margin. But they almost always sound better. There were three of us listening and we all heard the same thing. And here's the kicker...even a cheap dvd player using the analog outs sound quite good....kinda like a poor man's high-end cd player. Any of my dvd players using these disks will out perform my McCormack SST-1 cd transport. If your dvd player outputs 24/96, then you can send it to a high quality dac for even better sound. The bad news is Phillips dvd players don't seem to like the disks, they cut out the sound every few seconds. However most other players have no problem with them, Sony, Panasonic, Onkyo, Harmon Kardon, to name a few. I don't even listen to cd's on my big rig anymore, they must be upsampled to dvd first. So if anybody has dvd burning capabilities on their computer, give it a try. I'll be interested to see if other people's experiences are the same. I'm new to Audiogon, so I hope my post isn't inappropriate. Just trying to spread the word about good sound for cheap money. Oh, and you can fit 2 hrs of 24/96 music on 1 disk. It's a free trial with a limit of 4 songs to a disk (no limit for full version). I recommend using RW's for the trial. DVD2one Audio Remaster is the name of it. Full version is about $60.
http://www.eximius.nl/index.php
More to discover